Empathy
by Caribou121
Summary: Lauren meets someone in need of help but is unaware of the discoveries they'll make together. Set some years after season 4, all is well in the Fae world and Lauren has made her peace with the Light and Dark, all history remains the same. Lauren is the main character but there will be another main character that is original (which is necessary for the storyline).
1. Chapter 1

Lauren didn't hear the first knock at her door properly, she was too engrossed in her work. The second was more pronounced, so she rose and walked to the door to answer it. "Hello?" Lauren was slightly confused as she had never seen the girl in front of her before and nobody came to the compound without knowing exactly who they were looking for. The girl looked harmless, with mid brown wavy hair, bare looking make up and a casual dress sense she wasn't exactly threatening but Lauren had learned not to trust appearances.

"Um, hi. Are you Dr Lewis?" the girl was pulling at the hem of her skirt, it looked like the kind that rides up a lot, Lauren thought.  
"Yes I am. And may I ask who you are?"  
"Oh, yeah. Sorry," the girl smiled apologetically "I'm Ava, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute, I just have a few questions, see my friend's in trouble I think, like medically. And I got told you would be the person to come to, maybe?" She was talking 100 miles an hour and gesturing wildly with her hands. Lauren was unsure as to how this girl could possibly have obtained her contact details, never mind actually get into the compound.  
"Okay, can I ask how you got my address?"  
"Well the guy wouldn't tell me his name, and how I found the guy is a really long story. I'm uh sorry for intruding, I just really needed to find someone to help my friend."  
Lauren was reluctant but also intrigued and once again her curiosity got the better of her, "Ok, I'll listen to what you have to say but I can't promise I'll be of any help. Come in." She opened the door wider and shut it behind Ava once she had walked through.

Lauren turned to see Ava waiting at the counter, "You can sit down," Lauren smiled and told the smaller girl as she approached to take her own seat at the island counter in the kitchen.  
"Thanks. And thanks for letting me in, the directions for getting here were ridiculously cryptic." She paused in thought for a moment, still very tense and awkward, "So, um, my friend. She's not really sure if a normal doctor would be able to help her with this."  
"Go on," Lauren prompted the girl to continue.  
"Well she's in a kind of an abusive relationship with this guy and well she's ended up pregnant. And one of the reasons she doesn't want to leave is because she's scared of him, obviously. But there's something different about him, she's not sure what but he's um different somehow?" Lauren started to think she knew where this was going but was still caught up on how this girl had managed to find her. "So he doesn't know that she's pregnant and she wants to have an abortion, she's going to the clinic next week actually. But we weren't sure if that would be...enough. Because he's not, well he seems kind of..."  
"How much do you know about the Fae?" Lauren cut the girl off, the girl clearly knew about them and there was no way of side stepping the subject.

The girl was trying to be careful with what she said, she was very unsure of her words.  
"Oh, um well not much, that's kind of the problem." she was slightly taken aback by how blunt the doctor's question was. "I know that they're called Fae and they're supernatural? Or something. I kind of still don't believe any of it though. I mean, it's impossible, right? But here I am after two weeks of trying to track these "Fae" down."  
"Ok, in regards to your friend, a standard procedure abortion should be enough to terminate. But depending on the type of Fae there may be complications. How far along is she?" Lauren always kept a level head in order to focus on the main issue at hand, she would try and find out more about the girl after wards.  
"4 or 5 I think."  
"Okay, that's not too bad but some Fae have an accelerated development rate," Lauren thought things over for a few moments. Although she wanted to help the girl she was forbidden to help any humans. After she had agreed to work with both the light and dark she had still agreed to work exclusively with the Fae. But she too had had a friend when she was younger who was in an abusive relationship and had heard about the horror of it first hand and this girl had nobody else to go to, "if you'd like your friend can come here next week after the procedure and I'll give her some routine checks. But you should know that my contract doesn't allow this so nobody can know that you're bringing her here."  
"No, of course. Are you sure? I mean, thank you. I didn't think I'd be able to find out anything at the rate things were going. Thank you so much."

Lauren smiled and realised how relieved the girl was to have her help, she looked exhausted.  
"Um also I was kind of looking around for this place for about two hours, do you mind if I use your bathroom?" Ava asked the doctor sheepishly.  
"Yeah, sure. It's upstairs, third door on the right." Ava got up and headed for the stairs after thanking her. Lauren was glad she could help this girl but was also extremely conflicted about it. She definitely did not need more trouble from the Fae and didn't want to violate her contract but there was something about the girl, she seemed so desperate to help her friend and Lauren couldn't refuse her in good conscience.

"Oh my God, woah." Laurens head jerked up to the landing immediately to where the loud remark had came from. Ava appeared a few seconds later and Lauren had made her way nearer to the stairs to see better. "Sorry, I got the wrong room, it's just your Star Trek collection is ridiculously amazing." the girl laughed at herself slightly and became more composed, "So is it um.."  
"The one on your right," Lauren smiled. No one had had that kind of reaction to finding out about her geeky collectables before, people had told her it was cute but she hadn't encountered anyone who was excited about it.

Ava returned downstairs a few minutes later to find Lauren reading one of her papers again. "Hey, thanks for everything and um sorry about the whole wrong room thing again."  
"No, that's okay. So you're a big Star Trek fan then?" Lauren was genuinely curious, the girl didn't seem like the type.  
"Yeah, I went to Comic Con last year and cosplayed as... sorry I'm totally geeking out here, I should be going." she looked somewhat embarrassed.  
"Oh please, you just saw all my collectables upstairs. I don't think you have to worry about geeking out in front of me." Lauren laughed.  
"Well is there anything I can do to thank you for everything? Like maybe I dunno, dinner or something?" the younger girl blushed slightly. Lauren was pleasantly surprised and thought she would like to see the girl again to find out how she got to her in the first place. But she was currently on 'lock-down' which meant she couldn't leave her apartment unattended since some dangerous Fae from the east had arrived. The Ash meant well by this and although it frustrated Lauren she had agreed to it to give Bo peace of mind. She could still go to the Dal as long as she was escorted there but she couldn't exactly bring along another human with her.  
"I'd love to but I'm currently under house-arrest of sorts, some dangerous Fae are in town at the moment so I'm being kept to my work mostly," Lauren smiled regretfully.  
"Well if you want I could bring some food over and we could marathon Next Generation? Just say no if I'm totally imposing though." Ava wasn't used to being nervous around people but after the day she'd had and the way the doctor was looking at her she found herself fidgeting nervously with the zipper on her leather jacket.  
"Ok, I might take you up on that offer," Lauren was impressed at how bold the previously stuttering girl was being. "Here's my number, call me once your friend's been to the clinic and let me know how it goes." Lauren said whilst writing.  
"Great, I will. And thanks again, honestly you have no idea how happy Leda's going to be, she was so worried we wouldn't find anyone. Wait, I'm so sorry I don't even know your first name."  
"Oh it's Lauren, " the doctor explained, mentally kicking herself for not saying sooner and handed the girl the piece of paper with her number on it.  
"Well, it's nice to meet you Lauren," Ava held out her hand as if they'd only just met and Lauren took it smiling.  
"You too, Ava."


	2. Chapter 2

It was the morning after Ava had taken her friend to the clinic. She was so emotionally exhausted she didn't even want to make the call but she had said that she would. So she dialled the number written in neat, plain handwriting on the scrap of paper and found herself smiling. She was nowhere near as nervous as she had been the other day. In a few rings the doctor picked up,  
"Hello, Dr. Lewis speaking."  
"Hey, Lauren. It's Ava, from last Thursday."  
"Oh hi, is everything ok?" The doctor noticed some uncertainty in the girls voice, in truth the girl just wasn't sure if Lauren would remember her straight away.  
"Yeah, everything's fine. I went with Leda to the clinic yesterday and she's ok. Apart from being completely exhausted and everything else, I mean. I was just wondering if was still ok if I brought her over soon so you could see her?"  
"Yeah, sure. It'll have to be late though, say tomorrow around eight or nine?"  
"Perfect, I'll see you then." They exchanged their goodbye's.

Ava, looking forward to seeing the doctor again, had been wondering why she was so worked up about this woman. She had only met her once for ten minutes and that rarely had this kind of effect on her, even if she was attracted to someone. She tried to ignore her feelings and got ready for school.

"Well everything looks fine from the physical as far as I can tell but I'll run some blood tests and call Ava to let her know the results," Lauren said after she had given Leda her checkups the next evening.  
"Thank you, again. I don't even know what else I can say," Leda replied. She had been thanking Lauren over and over the whole time and had ran out of ways to rework the phrase.  
"No, that's ok, you've definitely thanked me enough," Lauren said with a smile, "I'm glad I could be of some help to you." She had remained very professional throughout since the girls had arrived, as she always was with her patients. And while she was secretly hoping to share some conversation with Ava she knew it was not the time. Leda turned to walk through the front door and Ava waited behind.  
"Hey, sooo about dinner, you still on 'lock-down' or whatever it was called?"  
"Um yes, I'm not sure when it'll be lifted, sorry."  
"No probs, I can come over and bring food like I said?"  
"Uhh yes," Lauren stuttered unsure of whether she should discuss such things as it had been a formal visit. But then again it wasn't exactly like she was a regular patient, "yes, that would be fine."  
"As a thank you, of course," Ava smirked, "So any preferences food-wise?"  
"Well beer and pizza's always good." Lauren thought knowingly.  
"Ahh, you have good taste, doctor."  
"Oh god, please don't start calling me that," they both chuckled a little, "look, Ava, I just wanted to check something before either of us gets the wrong idea."  
"Okay?" Ava replied, her eyebrow cocked on the second syllable.  
"Well I kind of assumed, just by how you look, that you were in your late 20s. But I overheard you talking to Leda earlier about school?"  
"Yeah, I'm just starting my PhD, I'm twenty six."  
"Oh.."  
" Did you think I was older or something?" Lauren looked a little surprised and Ava could swear she noticed, just for a moment, a look of concern on the doctors face.  
"Yeah, I did. I mean don't take it the wrong way, it's just I thought you looked a little older, I never-"  
"Lauren, it's just a thank you. Besides, I'm a big girl, you don't have to worry about how old I am." Ava resisted the urge to wink at her. She had never thought her age would be a problem, the doctor must have been about five years older than her but that didn't bother her.  
"Right. I guess you could come round tomorrow then."  
"Yeah? I mean if it bothers you we can just leave it."  
"No, no. Um, I don't know, say 8 o'clock?" Lauren had become a little flustered. She was normally so collected and was used to being hit on, quite often actually. But she had thought the girl to be closer to her age, nearing 30 or so.  
"Yeah, sounds good." Ava replied, "I'll see you then."

Ava arrived at Lauren's apartment the next night with pizza and beer in hand. She would have liked to take Lauren out somewhere, preferably with a bar, where she would feel more at home. But she thought it would be nice to do something with Lauren, rather than wait til the lock-down was lifted, Lauren must've been pretty bored not being able to go out when she wanted.

The truth was Lauren didn't mind the solitude that was being enforced on her. As long as she knew it wasn't going to last, that is. She had always been somewhat introverted and after the last few years she's had peaceful nights were always welcome. However she was looking forward to the arrival of the younger girl. The much younger girl, by seven years, she thought to herself. It's ok, it was just to say thank you, she kept telling herself. Although she knew in the back of her mind the younger girls intentions. She shoved the thought back and made her way to answer the door that Ava had just knocked on.


	3. Chapter 3

The night was going well so far, they had made their way through most of the pizza and were sipping on their second beers. Lauren was enjoying the younger girls company, she was witty and had a dry sense of humour, much like the doctor herself. Ava had just got up to move the pizza box into the kitchen and off the table in the living room where it was sitting when the door knocked. She exchanged a confused glance with Lauren but continued to head over to the kitchen. "Um sorry, I'll just be a minute." Lauren said towards Ava. She was going through a list of people it could be, and one person came to mind: Bo. The doctor hoped it wasn't, the succubus was still jealous and protective whenever she was seeing someone, even though she had good intentions.

When Lauren opened the door she was slightly relieved but mostly confused as to why Tamsin was facing her.  
"Hi Tamsin, is something wrong?" Lauren had never got on particularly well with her and immediately thought something must have happened for her to be making a house call.  
"No, not exactly," the valkyrie pushed pass the doctor and let herself in.  
"Well what the hell are you doing here then?" the doctor replied, frustrated. Tamsin, having noticed Ava sitting at the end of the kitchen island, turned and handed Lauren the files she was carrying.  
"Well you know the group of Fae that are in town? I need you to run the samples in here and tell me whether it was them that made the kill. The Ash is gonna flip his shit if we don't get some solid evidence against them soon so he can banish them," she rolled her eyes as if the Ash needed to relax. Tamsin glanced back over her shoulder slightly, "Little young for you, Doc, isn't she?" she taunted Lauren with her usual smug looking grin.  
"What, no, it's not like that," then Lauren realised what she was saying and that she didn't have to justify herself to Tamsin of all people. "Just give me the files, I'll have them done as soon as I can."  
"Ok, ok," the valkyrie's face shifted to indicate Lauren was over reacting, "Have fun." She winked at the doctor as she left for the door.

Lauren tried not to let herself get annoyed and reminded herself she still had a guest. She turned and headed towards where Ava was still seated, scrolling through her phone. She looked up when the doctor approached, stuffing her phone away. "Sorry, I had an email from my professor," Ava commented, smiling apologetically.  
"No, that's ok, sorry about Tamsin. She was just dropping off some samples. So what is it you're studying anyway?"  
"Well my masters was in Psychology and French and now I'm just doing Psych. I don't know why I did French really, I guess cause I'd picked some up from travelling but I'll never use it. So, yeah, now it's just psych."  
"Oh, so you're a fellow scientist then?" Lauren joked.  
"Why doctor, are you mocking me?" Ava feigned feeling insulted, "I'll have you know we actually do cognitive science for a semester each year." She said in a posh accent.  
"Ok, I think _someone_ might be a little tipsy." Lauren laughed.  
"Oh, I'm fine. It's gonna take more than a few beers for you to get me drunk, you know." Ava stood and announced, "I'm off to the loo" in a terrible English accent.  
"Well you're not convincing me of that very well. Hey, could you take the box set upstairs while you're going up?"  
"Sure." Ava smiled widely. She hadn't had this much fun in a long time. Once she had left school after her masters she had taken a year out to focus on recovery, having suffered with an eating disorder the four years previous. She had isolated herself and lost most of her friends, she still had Leda but she spent most of her time with her boyfriend. Ava was struggling to find people with common interests having just started school again and the doctor was turning out great company to be in.

She ducked into the room she had accidentally stumbled upon the week before and slid the box set into the gap on one of the shelves where it belonged. Everything definitely had its place and was meticulously kept throughout the doctors apartment. Then her eye caught something she didn't expect to find amongst the books and memorabilia. She walked over to the corner of the room where, next to two armchairs and a table, stood a record player. Ava grinned as she began to browse through Laurens collection. She knew she really shouldn't but couldn't help herself, she was always so interested in what music people listened to. She glanced through a few she didn't recognise, some she did, some she laughed at a little until she came to one she had herself too. She picked it out and wondered out onto the landing, craning her head over the banister. "Hey, I didn't know you had a record player."  
Lauren cocked her head up from where she was sitting at the counter, "Yeah, I was born at a time when records were the way people listened to music." she replied, somewhat sarcastically.  
"What, no you weren't, you're not _that_ old." Ava laughed.  
"Well thanks, how kind of you to say, " Lauren shifted from her seat and headed towards the stairs but continued their conversation.  
"Well you know what I meant, I bet you were listening to cassettes or CDs mostly, you _were _born in the 80s, right? Or have you secretly had a ton of plastic surgery to make you look younger and amazingly beautiful?"  
"Yeah, I was born in '81. No aesthetic surgical procedures of any kind." Lauren cringed slightly at admitting her age to the younger girl but couldn't help but smile a little at the compliment she had tagged onto the end of her question. She was now standing next to her and gestured for Ava to enter the room she had just left. Ava complied and realised this meant the doctor was thirty three, she hadn't thought Lauren was that much older, seven years was a bit more than she had expected, "Wait so you're thirty three then?," she faced the older woman, "I thought you were like thirty one, max." Ava shrugged showing her indifference, age really never bothered her although she reckoned she wouldn't date anyone much older than Lauren.  
"Yep, thirty three. Which record did you pick out?" Lauren said wanting to change the subject as quickly as possible, she didn't like to be reminded of the age gap between them as she was finding herself more and more attracted to the girl as the night went on. It didn't bother Lauren too much, technically she had slept with someone more than 500 years older than herself. But it wasn't just sexual attraction she was feeling towards Ava, they were getting along well and had a lot in common and that could mean more than just a one night stand.  
"Oh, um Piaf. I have this one too, it's one of my favourites actually."  
"Mine too," Lauren replied, "although I can never sing along to it, my French is awful. Non-existent, in fact. I bet _you_ can sing along just fine though, _non_?" maybe she herself was getting a little tipsy, the doctor thought to herself.

Ava laughed at the doctors use of French," No way am I going to sing in French right now. But-," she placed the needle on the spinning record she had set up,"-I will dance with you."  
"No, no. I don't dance, I'm not nearly drunk enough."  
"We can fix that, later," Ava took the beer out of the doctors hand and placed it on the table behind her, "_viens, danser avec moi_!" Ava took Lauren's hand in her right and placed her left on the doctors hip, she thought the waltz hold more appropriate for the classic French record they were listening to. Lauren giggled despite herself at the young girls dramatic motions, she only vaguely understood what she had said but Ava's use of French had left her powerless to disagree.

They were both laughing and spinning more or less in a small circle around the room as there wasn't much space. Ava tilted her head up to look at the doctor and slowed her silly side to side swaying, sliding her right hand from Lauren's to rest it on her shoulder. They continued to sway slightly as Ava moved her other hand to rest on the doctors left shoulder and around the base of her neck. Just as the song finished Lauren leaned into Ava, their lips met softly at first and then she deepened the kiss. Ava tangled her hand in the doctors hair at the base of her neck while Lauren pulled her closer, wrapping her arm around the younger girls waist. They kissed until the end of the next song when Lauren pulled back slightly and looked down at the smaller girl. Ava's combination of smiling and biting her lip made the doctor want to kiss her again but she decided against it.

"You know, it's not fair that you can just speak French and get people to kiss you." the doctor commented, smirking.  
"You know, it's not fair that you can be so damn attractive and get people to kiss you back."  
"Hmm, do you want to stay for another drink?"  
"Well I do want to but I should really be responsible and stop now since I have a meeting with my professor in the morning."  
"Yeah, I suppose you should." Ava sighed and stepped back a little, removing her hands from the doctor's shoulders. "Eugh, I hate being responsible. But I promised myself I would be during my Phd since I was definitely not during my masters."  
Lauren smiled and picked up her beer, closing the top of the record player. "Well it sounds like you should be getting home soon then. But we should do this again sometime, if you'd like?"  
"Yeah, I'd like that. Catch you downstairs in a minute." Ava said grinning, she never had got to the bathroom like she'd intended. Lauren headed downstairs and began collecting the empty bottles to recycle.

"Hey, so I'm gonna head off but I'll call you soon, yeah?" Ava said as she approached the bottom of the stairs. She grabbed her jacket off the couch and turned to Lauren.  
"Ok, sure, I had fun."  
"Yeah, me too," Ava replied, leaning in to kiss Lauren goodbye on the cheek and smiling as she turned to head for the door.


	4. Chapter 4

Lauren was hovering over the microscope when Tamsin and Dyson walked into the lab. "Hey, Doc. You got those files for us yet?" Tamsin asked leaning back against the counter.  
"Yes, I just finished them earlier," Lauren said looking through a pile of paperwork and pulling out the correct files, "Here." She handed the files over to Tamsin.  
"Thanks Doc, you babysitting again tonight then?" Tamsin retorted.  
Dyson looked at Lauren confusedly, "Babysitting?"  
"Yeah, the Doc had a pretty young thing in her apartment the other night, didn't you?" Tamsin replied before the doctor got a chance to with a smug grin on her face.  
"That is none of your business Tamsin." Lauren replied, slightly embarrassed that Dyson now knew and she wasn't even sure what was going on between her and Ava. Although when Lauren had text to let Ava know her that the imposed 'lock-down' had been lifted, she had replied asking if Lauren wanted to go out for drinks to celebrate and of course the doctor had accepted. So they were going on another date(?) later in the week.  
Dyson and Tamsin left after saying goodbye, Dyson still confused and Tamsin awful pleased with herself.

Lauren and Ava had been at the bar for just over a hour when Ava's phone rang. She glanced at the screen which had Leda's name on it. After a couple moments thought Ava gave in and said to Lauren," Sorry, I have to take this, I'll be back in a second."  
"Sure, yeah, no bother," Lauren replied with a smile.  
"Hello?" Ava answered the phone just before it stopped ringing.  
"Hey, can you come get me?" a hushed, timid tone asked from the other end of the line.  
"Of course, you at Vic's, yeah?" Ava promised to be there for Leda at any time she could possibly need her, even if it did mean ending her date with Lauren early.  
"Yeah." Leda replied solemnly.  
Ava hung up and put her hand to her head, leaning back against the wall outside, "Shit."

"Hey," Ava caught Lauren's attention while sitting down on the stool next to her, "I'm really sorry but I've got to go pick Leda up from her boyfriend's place."  
"Oh, ok. Is she ok, is she hurt?" Lauren asked remembering Leda's situation.  
"I don't know, I mean probably. She only calls me if things are pretty bad so.." Ava sighed. Lauren hated seeing her so stressed and placed a hand on her back to comfort her.  
"If you want me to come I can make sure she's ok, physically, I mean." Lauren suggested.  
"Um, I... I don't-"  
"Sorry, I shouldn't have said, it's not my place." the doctor regretted her suggestion immediately.  
"No! No, I mean I wasn't- that would be great. I just, well, that's kind of a strange way to end a date, isn't it? But I would totally appreciate it, you don't have to of course." Ava was struggling to find the right words with her mind pre-occupied with worried thoughts about Leda, "Um, are you sure?"  
"Yeah, of course. Sorry the doctor in me kind of took over there, I just want to help you make sure she's ok. You obviously care about her a lot."  
"I do," Ava nodded, "Ok then, we should get going. I'll call a cab."

* * *

It was her first time in Ava's apartment but Lauren was too busy checking the bruises on Leda's ribs to take it all in. Ava came over from the kitchen to the 'living room', her apartment was small and all open plan, except from her bed room and en suite, it was basically just a long room. But Ava was content and it felt very much like home after staying there for just over a year. She set down the two mugs of tea on the coffee table. "So how's she looking, Doc?" Ava said in a light hearted tone, she tried to joke with Leda as she knew Leda didn't like to face the severity of the situation at times like this.  
"Well the bruising's pretty bad on the right side so I'd say you should just take it easy until it heals. Sorry, there's not much else I can suggest but if this happens again it could easily have a lot more serious consequences. Make you sure you come to me if you can, ok?" Lauren looked sympathetically towards Leda.  
Leda nodded her head and forced a smile, "See, told you I'll be just fine," she directed the statement towards Ava who was sitting on the chair adjacent to the couch her and the doctor were on.  
"You're bullshit doesn't work on me Leda," she said half-serious and sighed, "Ok you're not going back to his tonight."  
"But he's expecting me back, you know it'll just be worse if I don't go next time. Honestly you two should head out again and I'll get picked up in a couple of hours." Leda had been apologising since they had come to pick her up for interrupting their date. They had used the excuse of going to the cinema to try and get Leda out of Vic's. He hadn't quite bought it but Ava could be quite persuasive.

"There's no way in hell I'm taking you back there, Leda. You know this needs to stop, you need to-" Ava stopped herself. It wasn't the time to be having this conversation with Lauren sat in the middle of them.  
Lauren suddenly became aware of this and stood, "Sorry, I should get going and leave you two to talk. Remember you can come and see me whenever, or call me if you can't." She said to Leda who thanked her again.  
Ava rose to walk Lauren into the hall, "I'm sorry things ended up like this, I was really looking forward to spending time with you."  
"That's ok, I was too but I'm glad I could help. She's so lucky to have you, you know?" Lauren said.  
"Yeah, I just wish I could help her more, I don't know how much longer I can watch her like this though. But even if I drag her into the station she has to agree to press charges and she's too scared." Ava replied dejectedly.  
"Well actually, I think I can help. I didn't want to say anything until I'd spoken to him yet but my friend is a police officer. And he works for the Fae, if Leda's boyfriends is Light then I'm sure Dyson can do something, it's just a little trickier if he's Dark." Then Lauren's mind went to Tamsin, would she bother helping? It was already risky telling Dyson she was attending a human even though he had a soft spot for them. "But I'll see what I can do." Lauren finished before Ava pulled her into a tight hug. Lauren was a little taken aback but after a moment she returned the embrace. Ava pulled back and wiped her cheek slightly, hoping the doctor wouldn't notice.  
"Thank you," she added as if she hadn't already said the words through her actions. Lauren did notice her wiping her cheek but also realised Ava wasn't the kind of person who wanted others to acknowledge if she was upset. However she decided to show Ava she cared anyways and cupped her right cheek, wiping another fallen tear with her thumb.  
"It's ok." Lauren responded and tucked the loose pieces of hair behind Ava's ear. Ava smiled slightly and closed the small distance between them. She didn't know how to thank Lauren with words, she just wanted to show her. The kiss was soft and slow, Ava wished the doctor could stay so they could continue but she stepped back and whispered, "I'll see you soon." Lauren nodded her head and turned just as she received a text to say her car would pick her up in five. Ava returned inside hopeful that maybe Laurens contacts could help the girl inside, curled up on the couch.


	5. Chapter 5

_Hey, I hope everything's ok. If you want to talk to someone I'm here, L.  
Sent: 12.41pm_

_Hi, Leda stayed at mine, she's feeling a bit better today. I've got a test on tuesday to study for, but maybe sometime after that?_  
_Sent: 1.15pm_

_Sure, I'll see Dyson before then so I'll talk to him and let you know what happens when I see you._  
_Sent: 3.30pm_

_Ok, great, you could come over Wednesday night?_  
Sent: 3.33pm

_Ok, I'll see you then, good luck on your test!  
Sent: 4.47pm_

_Thanks! I'll need it._  
_Sent: 5.05pm_

Lauren made her way to the Dal on Tuesday night, hoping Dyson would be there as she hadn't had a chance to speak to him yet. Fortunately he was there, at a table with Bo, Tamsin, Kenzi and Hale. These were the people Lauren had come to call her family and she wondered how they would get on with Ava, although she could kind of predict by now. Which made her realise that Tamsin or Dyson might have told Bo about Ava. Bo was still very protective of Lauren and still got somewhat jealous whenever she went on a date with someone new (although she could count the amount of times that had happened over the last few years on one hand).

Lauren got herself a drink from the bar and approached the table, saying hi to everyone. She asked Dyson if she could speak to him for a minute and explained the whole situation to him at the bar.  
"Well there's not much I can do if the girl is human anyway, Lauren. But I'll check his history and see what side he's on and see what I can do. This girl means a lot to you then?" Dyson asked.  
"Yeah, she does. And I couldn't just watch her friend go through this without asking you, you know?"  
"Yeah, I understand. I'll get back to you tomorrow sometime hopefully."  
"Ok, thanks Dyson." Lauren replied and finished her drink, "I'll see you later then."  
"You're not going to stay?" Dyson inquired.  
"No, I have a lot of work to get done with that virus going around but I'll see everyone sometime soon."  
"Ok, see you soon, Doc." Lauren would never change, she always thought of her patients first, thought Dyson as she walked out the door. He headed back over to the table.

"Hey, is Lauren going already?" Bo asked, confused.  
"Yeah, she's got a ton of work to do." Dyson replied before adding, "Anyone want anything, I'm going to get another?"  
"I'll come," Bo replied, curious as to what Lauren and him had been talking about. Dyson smiled knowing exactly what Bo was about to ask them as they approached the bar. "So-"  
"What were me and Lauren talking about?" He interrupted knowingly.  
"Ha ha, very funny. Anything I should be worried about?" Bo couldn't help it, if something wasn't shared between the group it was usually something to worry about unless it was private. But what would Lauren tell Dyson that she wouldn't tell Bo?  
"No, Lauren just wants me to do a background check on some guy." Dyson answered, taking his beer and thanking Trick.  
"Well was he from a case or something?"  
"You're not gonna let this go are you?" Dyson laughed slightly, "The girl Lauren's been seeing, her friend's boyfriend, is the guy I'm checking on, he got a human pregnant against her will so I'm going to see what I can do to help her."  
"Oh." It was a lot for Bo to take in at once. "Well I hope you can find something on him then. Is the girl still..."  
"No, she's not pregnant but she's still with the guy. Lauren's been checking up on her though, so hopefully she's ok."  
"Yeah, hopefully.." Bo said thoughtfully, wondering why Lauren hadn't spoken to her about it. She took her drink and they headed back to the table.

* * *  
Bo turned up at Lauren's later that evening with a bottle of wine in hand. She wanted Lauren to know she could talk to her and she was also well aware of how the doctor could overwork herself.  
"Oh, hi, Bo. Is everything ok?" Lauren answered the door, a bit bemused.  
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wanted to make sure that you were..." Lauren still looked puzzled ,"Dyson told me what's been going on." Bo explained.  
"Oh, right. Well, yeah I'm fine, just kind of worried but I'm fine." Lauren noticed the bottle of wine Bo was holding and sighed, opening the door to let the succubus in. "Bo I can explain things to you but I do really have to get back to work."  
"You shouldn't be working so late, you'll be in tomorrow anyway. C'mon just one glass, I feel like we haven't talked in ages."  
"I saw you yesterday." Lauren replied matter-of-factly.  
"Yeah but y'know like really talk," Bo was looking through the drawer in the kitchen where the bottle opener was.  
"Fine, one glass." Lauren agreed reluctantly. Although it was true she hadn't spent time alone with Bo in quite a while, Kenzi or Dyson were usually present.  
"Great," Bo replied with a smile, now pouring two large glasses of wine.

After the first bottle of wine had been finished (with Bo sneakily re-filling Lauren's glass and adding "It still counts as one if you don't finish it first..") they opened the second one. Lauren knew that by the end of the first bottle she wouldn't be able to focus enough on her work and being a little tipsy didn't mind opening another. She was enjoying Bo's company, as she always did, and had told her all about things with Ava and heard about the last few adventure Kenzi and Bo had been on.

Lauren laughed heartily as Bo finished telling her a story in which Kenzi ended up trapped up a tree, running from a dog that she thought was "a demon" when it was really just a stray. "You look so good when you laugh, you know," Bo said putting her glass on the table and placing her hand on Lauren's knee. "Bo.." she warned the succubus but didn't move back as Bo leaned in towards her. Before she knew it Lauren was kissing her back almost forgot about Ava. But then she realised... "Shit," Lauren said pulling back and bringing her hand to cover her mouth, "Bo, what are you doing?"  
she wasn't sure if the succubus was just jealous or if it was more than that but as soon as she started kissing her she completely forgot everything. Her head felt hazy from the kiss and the alcohol.  
"Sorry, I don't know, I just- I've had too much to drink," Bo stood to leave but the doctor knew that wasn't the whole of the reason. "I should go," the succubus said, grabbing her jacket and heading for the door before turning to apologise one more time. She felt guilty for kissing Lauren but it wasn't as if she was single herself, shit, what was she going to tell Tamsin? She was going to be very pissed off.. Bo thought reluctantly.

Lauren was left flustered and confused, a million and one questions buzzing around her head. Half involving Bo, half involving Ava. Oh God, I need to sleep, she thought to herself but she knew she be tossing and turning before she figured out what she was going to do or say to Ava. She put her head in her hands and wished she had stayed true to her promise of 'just one glass' and got back to work.

_A/N - So I brought Kenzi and Hale back so they could have a happy ending although they're not going to feature very heavily. And I also made Valkubus a thing since Bo can't have Lauren in this world :) _

_Also let me know if the format of the text messages works? And did I mention this is my first time writing fanfic so I'd love feedback if you've read this far!_


	6. Chapter 6

Lauren went to knock the door to Ava's apartment the next evening somewhat hesitantly. She hadn't quite figured out exactly what she was going to do yet. Ava answered the door and greeted her with a kiss on each cheek, "Hey, how are you? Come in, dyou want something to drink?" she asked smiling and taking the bag Lauren had brought with her which contained a six pack of beer.  
"Oh, thanks," Lauren set her handbag down and shed her coat before following Ava to the kitchen, "Yeah, I'm good. And I'll have a drink but I should say I might not be having too much tonight. I'm still slightly hungover." Lauren said shaking her head and laughing a little at herself for being so stupid.  
"Oh, were you out last night then?" Ava asked, opening two bottles for them.  
"Yeah, well kind of.." Lauren still couldn't quite decide how to broach the subject, "But anyways, how did your test go?" She changed topic and mentally kicked herself for not knowing what to say. She was usually pretty straight to the point, she should probably just tell Ava and get it out of the way, she thought.  
"Um, it was ok, it's kind of hard to tell cause it was an essay question, you know? But I think I did ok. So how's work? I'm guessing being hungover and doing crazy science isn't all that much fun?" Ava smirked, knowing the reaction her word choice would get from the doctor.  
"Hmm, crazy? Maybe not quite," Lauren said laughing, "But I have been trying to come up with a cure for this virus that's been going around. It usually doesn't take so long to find one but I was supposed to be working late last night and I didn't so I was trying to catch up with the samples in the lab today.." she caught herself rambling, "Sorry, it's not very interesting, I don't mean to complain."

"No, I don't mind, complain all you want. That's what friends are for right? Plus I think it's kind of really cute when you get all caught up in your science talk. And from what I can understand it seems pretty interesting." Ava encouraged the doctor to continue, she was genuinely interested in hearing about what Lauren had to say. She was usually the one who listened to others since she didn't like to talk about herself all that much.

Lauren couldn't help but think about how sweet Ava was, she seemed to care about the people around her a lot which made Lauren wonder why she didn't speak about anyone other than Leda that much. Then a pang of guilt snuck into Lauren's chest, she should just get it over with and let Ava know what had happened, she thought. "Thanks, I try not to talk about my work too much, it usually bores or grosses people out," know all she needed was a segue, "But yeah, I think I might have got it today if I'd worked late last night like I planned but Bo came over unexpectedly." Lauren paused and sighed a little at the thought of ruining the evening with what she was about to say but it would play on her mind all night if she didn't.

"Is everything ok?" Ava asked, looking a little confused. Lauren hadn't noticed if she'd been acting nervous but she guessed it must have showed.  
"Yeah, It's just, there's something I wanted to tell you about last night. When Bo came over she convinced me to have a glass of wine with her, which turned into a bottle, then two actually." Lauren remembered regretfully and found the nerve to carry on, "And she ended up kissing me. I did kiss her back at first but I stopped it and she left. I just thought you should know before I don't know, I just wanted to tell you." Lauren finally looked up at the younger girl on the other side of the counter, she had tore half the label on the bottle up while she talked.  
"Oh," Ava said and paused for a couple moments thought before adding, "Well I mean we weren't exactly exclusive. I mean it's not as if we agreed anything like that, right? And we've only seen each other a couple of times anyway.." She looked down at her hands and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, she wasn't entitled to feel like this yet, was she?  
"No, but I wish it hadn't happened. Just because we didn't agree anything doesn't make it ok, I feel terrible about it and I'm sorry." The younger girl's expression was unclear to the doctor, making her feel it necessary to clarify exactly what she wanted, "And that kind of made me think that I'd like, if we could be that is, to be exclusive. If that's something that you might want too?" Lauren reached across the table and took Ava's hand in hers. For only knowing the girl for a short time the doctor felt like they understood each other quite well, and that wasn't something Lauren felt too often.

"I think I'd like that too." Ava struggled to admit it to the doctor, she wasn't one to be open about how she felt most of the time. But she felt like she could be with Lauren, "So I don't really do relationships. At all, actually, but I'd like to um, be exclusive with you?" She ended the half statement- half question, not knowing quite how to phrase it. "Does that mean like dating?" Ava cursed herself for sounding like a confused teenager but she really hadn't done the relationship thing before.  
"Yeah, like dating," the doctor smiled, relieved and slightly amused at the younger girl's response, "So you really haven't done this before?"  
"Um, nope. Never." She'd been too all over the place for that until she was around 23, when she stopped using. Then after that she had kind of isolated herself from anything serious. Sure she'd hook up with people, quite often actually, but never anything she thought would lead anywhere. This was all new to her.

She was slightly embarrassed at her inexperience and was unsure how to explain without going into her past. She decided to take the easy way out and leaned over towards Lauren, capturing the doctors lips in her own. The kiss was short and chaste, with Ava pulling back slightly and laughing at the lipstick she had transferred onto the doctors mouth. Lauren looked a little bewildered.  
"Sorry, I forgot I had it on," Ava explained, pointing to her own mouth.  
"Oh," Lauren realised, raising her hand to her mouth to try and wipe off what must have been completely out of place berry coloured smudges, "tastes good though," she laughed. She looked at Ava questioningly as if to ask, 'Is that it?'.  
"Hmm," Ava said, "You missed a little." She pointed to a spot just under the right corner of Lauren's mouth. "Just here," she leaned in and kissed the spot gently, "and here too," she said placing another kiss on Lauren's chin, leaving another tinge of purple. She pulled back and admired her work, "I think that's it now." She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing.  
"Really?" the doctor enquired sceptically.  
"Yeah, I think that's it," Ava replied, struggling to keep a straight face and smirking a little.  
"You're sure?" Lauren continued, seeing how long it would take for Ava to break her composure.  
"Well...maybe there's a little bit I might have missed?" she smiled.  
"Mhmm.." the doctor said with eyebrows raised knowingly.  
"Ok, would you like a face wipe maybe?" Ava said, coming round from the other side of the counter and kissing Lauren on the cheek one more time for good measure. She headed for the bedroom and returned a few moments later, handing the face wipe to Lauren before using it to take her own lipstick off.  
"I'm gonna have to get you back for this, you know?" Lauren said, wiping the last of the smudges off her face.  
"Hmm, I look forward to it," Ava teased, handing Lauren her beer from the counter.

_A/N - I'm in Africa for two months without any internet - I promise to update when I get back in June though! :)_


End file.
